Touring toilets

Dr.Tamatha Johnson, owner of Brentwood Dental Designs in Epping, and office coordinator Jo-Ann Dillow pose with a pink potty on display at the office to raise money for Unite For HER. (JASON SCHREIBER PHOTO)

BRENTWOOD — Two toilets are touring local neighborhoods and generating a lot of potty talk along the way.

The toilets are eye-catching because they're pink.

They're also landing in front yards and at area businesses.

Dr. Tamatha Johnson was a little flushed in the face when she found one of the toilets outside her Brentwood home last Thursday.

"I was hysterical, of course, and my children had a lot of fun with it," said Johnson, owner of Brentwood Dental Designs in Epping.

The toilet tour is part of a "Flush Away Cancer" fundraising campaign to benefit Unite For HER, a foundation that provides breast cancer and wellness programs.

The campaign was launched by a competitive Junior Olympic team from Gymnastics at Brentwood Commons in Brentwood.

The team began raising money earlier this month for the foundation, which will attend a gymnastics meet in Philadelphia in February called the Pink Invitational.

Teams were encouraged to raise money before the meet. The top three teams that raise the most for the foundation will receive a donation to bring back to a breast cancer organization in their area.

"We're really going strong with the fundraiser. It's one of the more unique ones we've done," said Brentwood resident Holley Lenihan, whose daughter, Kelley, 11, is a member of the team.

The "Flush Away Cancer" campaign raises money in a few different ways. According to the "plumbing policies," people who want to stick the toilet on their neighbor's yard must pay $20. The neighbor who ends up with the toilet must then pay $20 to have it removed. Potty protection insurance can also be purchased for $30 to prevent the potty from returning.

Lenihan helped spearhead the fundraiser a few weeks ago when she made a plea for old potties on Facebook. She had two donated within about 10 minutes thanks to the Boisvert family of Stratham and the Weisman family of Brentwood.

The potties were painted pink and then sent out on their tour. They ended up at nearly a dozen homes in her neighborhood and made their way to several local businesses.

Lenihan's husband, Doug, jumped in to pick up the potties.

"My poor husband. For the longest time he was the one having to lug it from each different house. He's been a trouper," she said, laughing.

The two toilets are now traveling around Brentwood and Newton.

"We're going to keep them going until the weather shuts us down," Lenihan said.

The pink potties have been a big hit. In fact, Lenihan said there is now a list of people waiting to get the potties, which remain in a neighbor's yard or at a business for 24 to 48 hours.

Lenihan said one father told her how the kids on a school bus have reacted to seeing a potty in a yard.

"The kids get so excited, like it's Santa Claus and they can't wait for it to come to their yard," she said.

After one of the potties showed up in her yard, Johnson decided to bring it to her business, Brentwood Dental Designs in the Brickyard Square shopping center in Epping. She hopes people will see it and offer donations before it moves on.

Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to email Holley Lenihan at holleylenihan@aol.com.